During a recent trip through Wichita,
Kansas, we veered off the Kansas turnpike on the eastern
edge of the city and discovered a wonderful restaurant
with great décor and top-notch food. We were
completely surprised with the quality of the food and
the extensive menu, offering bison burgers, bison pot
roast, bison steaks, even bison meat loaf.
Ted's Montana Grill is owned by CNN founder
Ted Turner and a partner. Units are in at least 17 states
from Georgia and Florida, up the East Coast and into
the Midwest, as far west as Colorado. Two locations
are in Wichita, and the Kansas City area is home to
a couple of new locations as well.
We arrived at the restaurant late - about
9:15pm - on Father's day. Our expectations were not
to high until we stepped inside the main door. Dark
woods and brass accents provide a dramatic backdrop
for the predominantly bison and beef menu. A buffalo
head looked down over the bar area as we were seated
in a nearby booth. Our waitress had no idea who I was,
but she graciously offered us small samples of the most
popular bison menu items - pot roast, meat loaf and
chili. That made our selection more difficult as we
enjoyed each dish we sampled.
I ordered a buffalo burger topped with
Maytag blue cheese, while my husband opted for a generous
portion of a tender and flavorful buffalo tenderloin
steak. We ordered the fresh-squeezed lemonade, enjoyed
hand-cut and well-seasoned fries, fresh green beans,
fresh asparagus, petite homemade dinner rolls and homemade
dressings on our salads. Notice I mentioned everything
was freshly prepared. The steak was perfectly cooked;
the burger was not tough or dry at all. Dessert was
a huge bowl of strawberry shortcake with fresh berries,
real whipped cream and homemade shortcake.
Colorful checkered cloth napkins were
used, and plates were what you'd expect to see out on
the range in Montana - sturdy. And we guessed the plates
and bowls were custom-designed for the restaurant. Here's
what else we learned; The restaurants are eco-friendly,
use recycled materials for items such as the menus,
are nonsmoking facilities and the philosophy about the
food is to make everything daily from scratch. We returned
a week later on our trip back from Kansas and the waitress
we'd had on our first visit greeted us at the door.
If you'd like to know more about the restaurant,
the menu or find a location, go online to www.tedsmontanagrill.com.
(Pssst! I'm not a Turner devotee, but he sure knows
how to cook a bison steak and make great tasting fries
and desserts). Our next trip through Wichita will include
a stop at Ted's Montana Grill, a few miles off Interstate
35 and Kansas Highway 96.